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Altered Item
(AI61-KE) is an Altered Item contained by the FBC.]] Altered Items (AIs) are ordinary objects which have been acted upon by forces that fit no known scientific paradigm. While they appear innocuous, Altered Items possess unique properties and effects that defy the known laws of nature. The Federal Bureau of Control takes it upon itself to locate, contain, and study Altered Items in order to understand their natures and protect humanity from their effects. The origin of Altered Items is unknown, but they are likely created during Altered World Events (AWEs), wherein mysterious forces from otherworldly realms affect ordinary reality. These forces are affected by the mind, and thus gravitate toward ordinary items. Certain Altered Items, known as Objects of Power, cause large-scale AWEs. The FBC contains Altered Items and Objects of Power within their global headquarters, the Oldest House. Description The origin of Altered Items is ambiguous, but they are believed to come into existence as a result of AWEs, events in which the known laws of reality are violated by paranatural forces. These forces seem to be connected to the mind, and thus display an affinity toward everyday objects - televisions, refrigerators, telephones, buildings, guns, and medical equipment, to name a few. The nature of this mental connection is unknown, but as a result, these ordinary items gain unique reality-defying properties. Each Altered Item has its own unique nature and effects. In spite of their innocuous appearance, Altered Items can be extremely dangerous, which is part of the reason the FBC is tasked with containing them and preventing their effects from spreading. For example, the Arctic Queen (AI61-KE), a simple 1960s-era refrigerator, has an effect that is fatal to all organic entities within a 5-10 foot radius of itself. This effect is only neutralized if the item is constantly visually monitored. Based on their mysterious behaviors and hazardous effects, the FBC isolates and studies Altered Items in order to understand them and prevent them from posing a threat to human safety. Objects of Power are particularly unique Altered Items for a number of reasons. For one, they cause large-scale AWEs, and also appear to be connected to the Astral Plane and perhaps the Oldest House, making them critical to the FBC's understanding of both. Most notably, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Control is selected by an Object of Power (the Service Weapon) specifically for their ability to control the powers of other Objects of Power. For example, as Jesse Faden discovers Objects of Power throughout the Oldest House, she is able to bind to them through the Astral Plane and thus wield their powers. It is unknown how many Altered Items are contained by the FBC, though the Panopticon, the Oldest House's primary Altered Item containment chamber, has more than 700 active cells known as crucibles that contain Altered Items and Objects of Power. List of Altered Items The following is a list of all known Altered Items (AIs) and Objects of Power (OoPs) in Control. A total of 65 FBC case files are known to exist for Altered Items. Trivia * The formatting for Altered Item containment files is directly inspired by the SCP Foundation, a fictional organization also responsible for containing objects which defy the laws of reality. The formatting, particularly the "containment procedures" followed by a description of the object in question, is extremely similar to the formatting of the SCP Foundation's SCP files. * The concept of Altered Items is similar to the premise of The Lost Room, a 2006 science fiction television miniseries. The Lost Room similarly revolves around ordinary objects with supernatural powers, which were given these properties as a result of an unexplainable metaphysical "event". References Category:Altered Items